Scorpia Hunting
by BeautifulWolfGirl
Summary: The few members of Scorpia that were not put in jail are hunting for Alex. He has to live with Mrs. Jones while MI6 is hunting for Scorpia. Alex is kidnapped by Yassen. MI6 hunts both Scorpia and Yassen, trying to protect Alex. The only safe place for Alex is with Yassen, though, because Yassen is supposedly dead. No slash! Alex and Yassen have a father/son relationship.
1. Liverpool Street

**So, I've decided to write another Fanfic, this time on a favorite book series of mine, the Alex Rider series. And of course, my all-time favorite character, Yassen.**

**Basically Yassen is a live, he survived the bullet, blah, blah, blah. There are plenty of stories like that out there, but this is way different than any of them.**

**This is after Scorpia Rising, so if you haven't read that book, you better not read this story until you do because there are MAJOR SPOILERS!**

**Anyway, Alex has been living with the Pleasures for 6 months, he's over Jack's death (see? Told you there'd be spoilers!) and he's being hunted by Scorpia. I know, I know, Scorpia split up and a bunch of its members were arrested, but some of them are still lurking around out there, and they're out to kidnap and kill Alex. Enjoy! Oh, and I will be switching between Yassen and Alex's POV for each chapter.**

**Sorry I jump right into the story, I don't like introductions too much, so that's why I write it all out here. Also sorry about the title I didn't know what else to call it.**

**Oh, by the way, Yassen's hair is red, like in the movie, because I like his hair red rather than blond so…yeah. All right, enough talking. Here's the first chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider, Yassen, or Mrs. Jones (although I wish I owned Yassen because he's the love of my life!).**

**I'm really sorry guys! The chapter I posted earlier was the wrong one, so I had to repost it! Really sorry! Enjoy the actual story!**

**Hey, for all you people who like this story and are following it, there is now a sequel. It is called Pythia if anyone wants to look it up. There might also be a third book, which I have already titled, but I'm not giving that title away right now. Thanks for reading my stories!**

Chapter 1- Liverpool Street

I walk down Liverpool Street, toward the Royal & General Bank. I can't believe I'm back, only 6 months after I left for America. This is all so familiar; the bank, the street, the city, and most of all, the resentment toward MI6 for screwing up my life.

The first person I see is Mrs. Jones, the new director of MI6.

"Alex, so good to see you. How are you? How do you like America?" she greets me.

"I'm all right. I like America," I reply curtly. I don't feel like talking to her.

"Look, I'm sorry we had to do this, but Scorpia is still a big concern for us. You're in danger," she sighs, leading me to the elevator and to her office.

"I just wish they would leave me alone. What's the point? I'm not dangerous to them anymore, so why keep hunting me?" I exclaim, exasperated with this whole thing.

MI6 got an alert last week that Scorpia is hunting for me. They called the Pleasures immediately, and they got me on a plane so I could be safe.

"Alex, you know it's more than that. This isn't just about you, it's about revenge," she explains.

"So what am I going to do? What are you going to do, for that matter?" I ask.

"Well, while we find the members of Scorpia who are hinting you, you will have to live under constant watch, unfortunately. We believe if they capture you, they will try to leak the information that you use to work for us. They will most certainly kill you.

"You will be living with me for the time being. You will go to an online school. You'll be perfectly safe,"

"Yeah, and I'll also have people watching my every move," I mutter.

"You know there's no other choice," she points out. I sigh and nod my head. I do know. I just wish there were some way I could stay in America, with Sabina. It looks like that won't be happening, though. I miss her already, and I've only been here for an hour.

A few days later…

I bike down the street, enjoying the feeling of wind rushing through my hair. Agent Todd, a young 21 year old, rides next to me. He's the one they assigned to be my bodyguard. I have to admit, he's pretty cool. He basically lets me do anything I want, and he lets me buy whatever I want as well. I think maybe he feels bad that he has to watch me like this, so he's trying to act like a big brother instead of a bodyguard.

We stop at an ice cream store, where we buy ice cream. Then we walk over a short ways to a small park, where we sit on a bench and eat the ice cream.

I watch some boys skateboard around the street, laughing and joking with each other. I watch a little boy flying a kite with his dad. Suddenly, some instinct tells me I'm being watched. I glance around, and I see a man. Yes, he's staring at me. I recognize him instantly. It can't be…that's not possible. He's supposed to be dead!

The man I'm looking at is skinny; he has the body and grace of a dancer. He has ice blue eyes and red hair.

Yes, now I'm certain he's who I think he is. I don't know how, but somehow it's him.

The man who's watching me is Yassen Gregorovich.

**That's the end of the first chapter! Thanks for reading! Remember to R&R! I don't care if you give a bad review; it helps me with my writing. Any suggestions about the story are also appreciated and welcome.**


	2. Friendly Kidnapping

**This is my second chapter. I was in class and bored when I wrote this, so I might change it based on the reviews from chapter one. Anyway…enjoy! This is from Yassen's perspective BTW.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider (sorry, I know it's very depressing but true!) :-p**

Chapter 2- Friendly Kidnapping

I can tell Alex is surprised to see me alive. I remember what happened after I passed out. MI6 found me passed out next to Alex, and they took me to the hospital. Ironically, I was in the room right next to Alex, room 8. As soon as I was healthy enough, which took a lot of time, I escaped the hospital. I've been in hiding ever since. It's obvious that they never told Alex I survived.

I know Alex will follow me if given the chance; he'll be curious to know how I survived. I walk over to a small bathroom and go inside. I wait for about a minute, and then I start to worry. Maybe I've misjudged his curiosity. What if the Agent decides to come with him? The door opens and Alex comes in alone. I'm standing right by the door, so he sees me easily. He stops in front of me, examining me.

"So it's you. You're back." he says, trying to keep his cool.

"I passed out, and MI6 found me. They took me to the hospital. I was in room 8, right next to you. As soon as I was well enough, I escaped. I've been in hiding ever since." I explain simply.

"Why are you watching me?" he asks warily.

"Scorpia is hunting you. I suppose you know that already because there's an agent with you, protecting you."

"What's your point? Are you here to take me to them?" he snaps, getting agitated.

"No, I don't work with them anymore. They don't know I'm alive; only MI6 knows I'm alive." I say.

"Then why are you watching me?" he says, looking extremely confused.

"To protect you. Scorpia knows where you are right now; they know where Mrs. Jones' apartment is. The only place you'll be safe is with me, until MI6 can find and stop the people who are hunting you," I explain. I watch him carefully to see how he reacts to this.

"You're crazy if you think I'm just going to walk out of here with you. You're crazy if you think I trust you. You killed my uncle!" he snarls.

"I saved your life, twice! I worked with your father!" I say, keeping my voice as calm as possible.

"That doesn't matter! I don't trust you at all, and I never will! You don't even know the truth about my dad!" he says.

"What are you talking about?" I ask. The truth about John?

"He was a double agent for MI6," Alex says, calming down slightly.

"He…he worked for MI6?" this stuns me. John was like a father to me!

"Yes, they had a file on him." Alex says.

"All the more reason for you to come with me," I say, realizing this could be an angle.

"I'll never go with you willingly. Never." He says, and he turns around and bursts out of the door. Great, now I have to do this the hard way. If he stays with MI6 much longer, he's going to get captured and killed.

I race out the door after him, pulling out a tranquilizer gun. The Agent is running toward him, looking worried. I shoot one tranquilizer at the Agent, and another at Alex. The Agent falls down, but the tranquilizer that I shot at Alex misses by inches. He glances back and sees me chasing him. He glances at the agent, notices the dart, and starts running away. I shoot another dart at him, and it hits him in between his shoulder blades. He falls down in the grass, out cold.

I run over to him and pick him up. I carry him over to a car, where I lay him down in the back. I get into the car and drive away, toward the safe house I've been living in since I escaped MI6.

**That's the second chapter! Really excited about where this story is going! I love writing these stories. Remember to R&R!**


	3. Friend or Foe?

**All right, third chapter. I got so bored in class today; I decided to just keep writing without waiting for the reviews to come in. Also, when I start going through and editing a story a lot, often times I end up hating it and then I quite the whole thing, so this is basically hot off the press (your welcome).**

**Disclaimer: I totally own this! Wait, wait, wait, don't kill me Yassen, I didn't mean it! I love you...hehe...**

Chapter 3- Friend or Foe?

I watch as Alex slowly wakes up after the drug wears off. He's lying on a bed with white sheet and white covers. Slowly, he lifts his head and looks around. Finally, his eyes land on me.

"Where am I?" he asks.

"You're in my safe house," I reply. He groans, swinging his feet over the side of the bed.

"Are you hungry?" I ask. Most likely he is; he's been out for half a day.

"No, I'm fine," he lies. I shrug. If he wants to starve, I don't care. He'll ask for food when he gets hungry enough. I can tell he still doesn't trust me; he probably thinks I'll poison him or something.

I get up and go to the kitchen, getting him a glass of water. When I return, he's getting out of the bed. I offer him the drink, but again he declines.

"Alex, this is the safest place you'll ever be. Think about it: as far as Scorpia knows, I'm dead. That means they won't suspect you're with me, because they don't know I'm alive." I say.

"Why would you try and help me?" he asks angrily.

"John might have been working with MI6, but he was still like a father to me. He trained me, went on missions with me, and he saved my life. I owe him, and I figure taking care of his son would repay the debt." I explain.

"You can say whatever you like, but nothing is going to convince me to trust you." he growls.

I start to say something, but suddenly I hear something outside. It's the closing of a car door. I stride over to the window and move the curtain away. There's a black SUV parked outside the safe house. Two men wearing black come up the driveway. How did they find us?

"We have to leave. Now. Scorpia found us, somehow." I hear tires squeal outside. Great, another car. I glance back outside; four more men get out and run around to the back. They aren't taking any chances this time.

"Follow me," I command, running toward the laundry room. I know they'll be watching door and windows, so I head toward the garage. Hopefully we'll make it in time. I glance back to see Alex following me. I think he trusts me more than he's letting on.

I open the door and run out into the garage. I was planning to escape on foot, but maybe it would be better if I took the car. I walk over to the door and unlock it.

"Get in," I command. Alex is standing at the door of the laundry room, motionless.

"Alex, get in the car. Now. Please," I say, adding the please in hopes of appearing less hostile. He still doesn't move.

"Alex if we don't get going they're gonna find us and—" the side door crashes open, and a man steps in with a semi-automatic gun. It's pointed at Alex's chest. I leap forward before I know what I'm doing. I grab Alex and dive out of the way. I feel a bullet graze my arm.

I let go of Alex, and he runs to the car, jumping in and getting down. I hit the garage door opener and lunge into the car as well. I feel another bullet hit my leg, but I don't react. I slam the car door, jam the keys into the ignition, start the car, and squeal out of the garage before the door is fully open.

I drive away, and though they try to follow us, we lose them eventually. It's a good thing I have another safe house, although it's a lot less comfortable than this one was. We drive in silence for a while. Unfortunately, this second safe house is about an hour away from here, so we'll be driving for a while.

"Why?" Alex asks, glancing at me. I look back at him, meeting his eyes for a second.

"Why what?" I ask, even though I'm pretty sure I already know what he's asking.

"Why did you do that? Back in the garage…you could have died. Why did you save me?" he asks.

"I already told you, I'm not working for Scorpia. I suppose you could say I'm on your side now." I tell him.

He's silent for a moment, trying to figure out how to respond to that.

"Thank you," he says finally. I realize no one's ever thanked me for doing anything for them, except John.

"You're welcome. Do you believe me now?" what I really want to know is if he trusts me now, but I don't want to shove it in his face, as if I'm saying 'I told you so'.

"I told you before you couldn't do anything to make me trust you. I guess I was wrong. I believe you, and I trust you. I guess I really don't have a choice, now." he pauses, and then says, "They know you're alive."

"Maybe. If they recognized me, then they do. Most of the members who would recognize me are either dead or in jail." I reply. It is possible they know I'm alive now, however, and I don't like that.

"We have another problem," Alex says after a moment of thought.

"What's that?" Great, this is the last thing we need. What now?

"Well, since you basically kidnapped me from MI6, now they'll be hunting for you as well. They'll probably think that Scorpia has me," he says.

"You're right. They will be searching for us. At some point, they'll find us. That might be for the better, though, because then they will know you're safe."

"How do you know they'll trust you? I didn't trust you at first,"

"The sooner they find us, the sooner they can focus all their efforts on finding the members of Scorpia who are hunting you. Can you contact them somehow, tell them you're all right?" I ask. All I really want to do is get all these Scorpia agents gone so Alex and I will be safe.

"I have a number. Mrs. Jones gave it to me." Alex says.

"Good. Then we can contact them as soon as we get to my other safe house."

"I'll contact them, but under one condition," he adds.

"What's that?" I ask, sighing. Sometimes he can be so frustrating.

"I want breakfast first. I'm famished!" he exclaims, a smile spreading across his face as he glances at me. I look at him and smile back.

"I think I can arrange that,"

**Thanks for reading my third chapter! Remember to R&R!**


	4. The Big Question

**Chapter 4 has arrived! It's a bit lengthy but it's really interesting. Not a lot of action, mostly dialogue.**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Alex Rider. What the... *Yassen enters***

**Me: Yassen…what are you doing here? *nervous laughter***

**Yassen: I'm looking for my gun. It seems to have mysteriously disappeared… *looks at BeautifulWolfGirl accusingly***

**Me: what are you talking about? I don't have your gun! *smiles innocently***

**Yassen: Well, luckily I have a spare. *takes out gun and points at BeautifulWolfGirl***

**Me: Wait! If you kill me, no one will ever find out what happens to you!**

**Yassen: Fine, I'll spare your life. But just this once.**

**Me: *sighs in relief* thank you. All right, here's the story!**

Chapter 4- The Big Question

After breakfast, we drive to my second safe house. It's not really a safe house, as Alex soon states.

"It's…a storage unit," he says, staring at it in confusion.

"I couldn't afford another house. It's supposed to be temporary; emergencies only," I say. I don't like this. I don't have anything here really. I have guns, C-4, and bullets. There is a small fridge, and a mattress that serves as a bed. The only food in the fridge are in cans. There's a microwave, but it's barely usable.

"I unlock the door and step inside. I haven't been here in several months. I glance around; its dusty and really dirty.

"This is…interesting," Alex says as he enters behind me.

"We'll have to stay here until we get into contact with MI6 and figure out what to do," I tell him.

"Great," he says, his voice dripping sarcasm.

"I know it isn't ideal, but we're going to have to live with it for now," I can tell he doesn't like this at all.

"I should call MI6 now," he suggests. He looks around for a phone.

"No phones here. I have a cell," I explain, handing him my IPhone.

Alex calls the number and waits while it rings. He clicks a button, and puts it on speakerphone.

"Hello?" a voice says. I recognize Mrs. Jones' voice.

"Hi Mrs. Jones," Alex greets her.

"Alex! Thank God! Are you all right? Where are you? I heard you were captured by Yassen. Did you escape?" she's really worried about him.

Alex hesitates, looking at me. I give him a slight nod. "I'm all right. I'm—"

"Where is Yassen? Do you know?" she interrupts.

"He…he's here, with me," Alex says.

"What?! Is he listening to us?" she exclaims.

"Yeah but…" he starts but she interrupts him again.

"I want to talk to him. Now," she demands.

"I'm here," I say calmly. This is the hard part. We have to convince her I'm on their side, somehow.

"Yassen, you WILL bring Alex to us, unharmed, tomorrow at a set location. If you don't we'll—" she starts to explain.

"Mrs. Jones, it's all right. He's not hurting me," Alex exclaims.

"He could. Has he taken you to Scorpia yet?" she asks.

"He doesn't work with Scorpia anymore. He's protecting me," Alex explains.

"How do you know he won't betray you?" she asks suspiciously.

"He saved my life. These men from Scorpia came, and Yassen saved me from being shot. In fact, he was shot, twice," Alex replies, looking at me as he says it.

"Yassen?" she asks.

"Yes?" I reply.

"Is that true? Did you save Alex's life?" she seems stunned.

"I did," I say.

"Why? Is it because of John?" she says, figuring it out.

"Yes. Alex told me about John…it doesn't matter. He was still like a father to me, and protecting his son, especially from a company that has tried to kill him, seems like a good way to repay the debt. I owe him," I wonder if she'll believe me.

"Alex…do you trust him?" Mrs. Jones asks carefully.

"At first I didn't but after he saved my life…that changed. Yes, I do trust him now," Alex says.

"Yassen, why did you kidnap Alex?" she asks me.

"To protect him from Scorpia," I reply.

"And what makes you think you can protect him better than us?" she asks, sounding slightly offended.

"Scorpia knows where you live. He was living with you, correct?" I say.

"Yes, he was," she confirms.

"Also, as far as Scorpia knows, I'm dad. If he's living with a ghost, then he cant be found. Unfortunately, because the men found my first safe house, that might have changed. Maybe not, though. Not many people out there can recognize me," I say. I hope this won't change her decision. I haven't heard what her decision is yet.

"So am I going to stay with him or not?" Alex asks, bringing up the main question.

"Do you want to stay with him, or come back with us?" she asks him. This surprises me; Alan Blunt, the old director of MI6, would never have asked this. Blunt would have made the decision for him. Alex wouldn't have had any say. It's obvious that Mrs. Jones cares about Alex's opinion.

"I…" Alex hesitates, considering what to say. "I want to stay with Yassen," Alex says finally. This actually surprises me a little, too. I honestly didn't expect him to stay that.

"I think you'll be safe with him for now. We've found most of the people hunting you. It's a small group, only five people," she tells us. It's obvious they're working alone; they don't have a leader that is telling them what to do,"

"So there self-employed," I say thoughtfully.

"Yes, it would appear so," she replies. "Where are you living, by the way? You mentioned that Scorpia found your first safe house," she continues.

"We're living in…" I trail off. What should I tell her?

"A storage facility. It's not very ideal or comfy, but it has basically everything we need to survive," Alex finishes for me.

"…Okay? Well, we'll keep hunting for Scorpia. Hopefully this will be over soon. Alex has had enough stress in his life already. This is just one more thing…" she trails off, giving a long, tired sigh.

"Is that all then?" I ask.

"Yes, that's all. Call me if anything happens. If anything happens on our side, can I call this number?" she inquires. Usually I would say no, but this is an exception.

"Yes, you can call us," I reply.

"Well then, I suppose we're done. You've done very well, Yassen. You too, Alex," she says.

"Thank you," we both say.

"Yassen, I want to thank you for protecting Alex. Thank you for saving his life. Are you very hurt?" if someone had told me Mrs. Jones would be thanking me for protecting Alex and asking me if I was all right a week ago, I would have laughed in their face.

"I only got shot in the arm and leg. I'm all right," I say.

"That's good. Thank you," she says, sounding relieved.

"John saved my life in the Amazon jungle. I considered him to be a father to me. Alex is like my son," I reply, looking at Alex as I say this. I can tell Alex is surprised and touched by this.

"I'll call you if anything happens," she says, not sure how to respond to that. "Goodbye, Yassen, Alex," we say our goodbyes, and then we hang up.

Alex sits down on the small bed, looking like his is deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask.

"What you said just now. About how you consider me a son. It reminds me of Alexi Sarov," he says.

"Who is that?" I ask.

"Was. He's dead now. He was the man MI6 was after for one of my missions. He lost his son to the Vietnam War. He…he wanted to adopt me," Alex says. I come over and sit next to him. I can tell this memory is one of the ones he doesn't want to remember.

"What did you think about that?" I question.

"I didn't want to. He was going to blow up half of Russia. He was Russian, like you," Alex tells me.

"What do you feel about me considering you as a son? If I wanted to adopt you, would you agree?" I ask. "You don't have to respond if you don't want to," I add, realizing he might be uncomfortable saying no.

"No, I don't mind. I…I think it's nice that you consider me a son. If you wanted to adopt me…I don't know what I would say. I don't know you that well, personally at least," he says.

"No one knows me personally, except John," I tell him.

"That's what I figured," Alex replies, smiling at me. I like that smile. It reminds me a lot of John.

"I'll tell you about myself. Not now, though. Right now we need to get new clothes, for you and me," I say. Neither of us has any clothes besides what we're wearing. "Tonight I'll tell you about me," I add.

"Anything I want to know?" he asks, intrigued. Why am I doing this? Why do I trust him so much? He's John's son, that's why. I trusted John with my life. I trust Alex, too.

"I'll tell you anything you want," I reply.

Alex smiles; this is probably music to his ears. It's probably very rare that someone is actually going to tell him the whole truth. Especially in his life of work. It's also very rare for me to open up to someone like this; even though we haven't gotten very far. The only other person that knew a lot about me was John.

"Thank you for trusting me," Alex says, glancing at me with serious eyes.

"I should be the one thanking you. You didn't trust me at all at first, but now you trust me with your life," I reply.

"Let's go get some new clothes. Yours are starting to smell," Alex says, giving me a crooked smile.

"Mine! You should smell yourself, young man!" I laugh. Together, we go outside, climb in the car, and drive off to get new clothes.

**That's the end of chapter 4! If you would like to contribute questions for Alex to ask Yassen in the next chapter, go ahead! I would love some ideas, cuz all I have are stupid things like when his birthday is. Thanks for reading! Remember to R&R! (Yes, I will put this at the end of every chapter I write until people start doing it because there are no reviews as of yet.)**


	5. Questioning the Past

**Hello everyone! I'm super excited that this chapter is finally here! I've been wanting to do this for a while now, especially since Anthony Horowitz is publishing his new book about Yassen on October 3, 2013! I can't wait for that to come out, because it's going to give answers to all the questions we have about Yassen and his past (at least from what I hear that's supposed to be what the book focuses on). However, since it is being published in October, which is 6 months from now, I cannot wait, so here are what I think some of the answers are! I'm sorry I haven't described anything very well; I'm more of an action type of person; I don't do well with descriptions, though I could if I really tried.**

**This takes place at night, on the same day the last chapter was written.**

**BTW, I have officially decided that for the rest of the book I will be in Yassen's POV; I like him so much and his POV is very easy for me to do. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews everyone! Thank you for the suggested questions! It has been very helpful and insiring.**

**To ****SunnyDay23: thank you for ****giving me suggestions about the questions I should ask. I will definitly ask questions in these catagories!**

**To pokes: um, thank you for the suggestions, and I do know what you mean. Maybe we shouldn't be that personal (I have a feeling Yassen would sneak into my house at the dead of night and kill me).**

**To Arry the Banana: thank you so much! I love the father-son relationship between Alex and Yassen as well! I always love stories like that, and I love how deep into their relationship it's going! Keep watching and reading to see what happens; I have big plans for them.**

**To Albany: Thank you so much for your review and suggestions. It helped me a lot with figuring out what Alex would ask Yassen. It also gave me ideas for the other chapters.**

Chapter 5- Questioning the Past

After we buy some t-shirts at a cheap store near the storage facility, eat some soup from the fridge, and get ready to go to sleep, we sit down across from each other; Alex on the floor leaning against the wall, me a few feet from him, sitting on the bed. Since there's only one bed, I have decided that I will sleep on the floor. Right now, though, I can tell that all Alex wants to do is ask me his questions.

"I've been thinking about what I'm going to ask you. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, so if you don't want to answer the questions I ask, you don't have to." Alex starts. I realize how far our relationship has come since we first met; he hated me, he told me he would kill me one day. Now he cares about my feelings and emotions enough to tell me it's all right if I don't want to answer the questions he's about to ask me.

"It's fine. I'll tell you if I don't want to answer any questions. Why do you say that?" I'm getting curious as to what kind of questions Alex is going to ask me.

"You'll see," he replies mysteriously. "My first question is this: do you regret killing Ian Rider, my uncle?"

His first question definitely surprises me; I wasn't expecting him to ask something like this. I was expecting him to ask about my past; my family. I suspect he well, just not now for some reason.

"No, I don't. This probably honestly doesn't surprise you, because of who I am. I was paid to kill him, as you know. If I hadn't, however, I would probably have been killed by Scorpia," I reply. I don't know how Alex will react to this; I can tell that some of the topics we'll be discussing are going to be…difficult.

"If you could go back and relive it, would you still kill him or not?" he asks; I assume he planned to ask this no matter what my answer to the previous question was.

"I would still kill him, mostly for the reasons I just gave you. Knowing and experiencing what I have, though, I can honestly say that I would still kill him so that things would be the way they are today. Think about it: if I had never killed Ian, you might not have been recruited by MI6. That might seem like a very good thing, but if you hadn't been recruited by MI6, you would never have met Sabina. You see? There are good things that happen as a result bad things," I realize that I'm teaching him a lesson John taught me long ago; even bad situations can have a good outcome.

"If you had never killed my uncle, I would never have had to join MI6, and Jack would still be alive," Alex says, somewhat bitterly. Though I can tell he is no longer depressed over his old housekeeper's death, I can tell that he partially blames MI6 for it. I can also tell that he feels bitterness toward me.

"Alex…" I hesitate, trying to figure out what I want to say to him. I know this is one of the most sensitive subjects with Alex, even though it's the first time either of us has brought it up. "Death is a part of life. It happens to everyone, and it is a horrible thing to have to go through. I know that saying I'm sorry for what happened is not sufficient; it never is. I don't want to make her death sound like a good thing because it's not. Think of this, though. After she died, you were able to defeat Scorpia and break up the whole company, save the few people who are currently hunting you. You are basically out of all the spy business. It's all over, probably mostly because Mrs. Jones is the new director, but also because, emotionally, you were unhealthy to continue in that line of work." I know my response toward what he said is very unsatisfactory, maybe even offensive to him. I won't be very surprised if he gets angry at me.

"That's an interesting way to think about it. I suppose…Jack's death wasn't good, but the results, some of them at least, were," he says slowly.

"Would you like to move on to the next question?" I ask him gently. I can tell he's reliving Jack's death as we talk about it, and I know it must be hard for him.

Alex is staring blankly off to my left, his eyes glazed and unfocused. Slowly, he focuses again and looks at me. "Yeah," he says simply. "I know that as an assassin, you're not supposed to have feelings about your targets. They taught me that at Malagosto. Because he was John's brother, though, did you have feelings for Ian?" he asks. He looks back to normal now; he's not thinking about Jack anymore.

"No, Alex, I don't. I never knew him personally like I knew John. John didn't talk about him all that much, I don't think they were really that close to each other."

"Were you sad when John died?"

"I…" this question takes me by surprise. I wasn't expecting something like this to come up. "Yes, I was very sad. We were very close to each other, closer than I've ever been with anyone. I thought MI6 killed him, but I assume that's not the case, is it?" Now that I know the truth, I want to know who really did kill him.

"Well, he faked his death on AlbertBridge. He was on a plane with my mom, and Ash, my godfather, blew up the plane they were on," Alex explains.

"I…Ash was working with MI6, though, wasn't he?" I ask. This is all very confusing for me.

"He was, but then he switched sides." Alex says.

"He killed John and Helen…" I remember Ash from the one time I saw him; it was when I was 19 years old; I stabbed him in the stomach.

"He did. Can I ask the next question?" he says.

"Yes,"

"How did you feel after your parents died?"

This question doesn't surprise me; I was expecting him to ask me something like this. "I felt like I had lost my whole life; there was nothing I could do about it, but I was angry at the government for allowing it to happen. I was angry at everyone. I ran away so I wouldn't be put in an orphanage. As you know, I started working for the Russian mafia. That led me to Scorpia. And of course, that led me to John. I never really trusted anyone; I feared that if I got close to someone, I would lose them like I lost my parents. I was very close to my parents, when my father died, my mother and I were devastated. Then my mother got ill and died several months later. I basically hit rock bottom; I was very depressed,"

"Why was John like a father to you?" he asks, looking at me intently. I can tell that my answer to this means a lot to him. I realize I've never thought about it before; why I started trusting John so much; why I let him make an impact on my life.

"He was different from everyone else at Scorpia. He was one of the best killers there, even though he was working for MI6 as I now know. He was the one who trained me; we went on several missions together. We just grew closer. He taught me how to bottle up all the emotions I was feeling about my parents dying. Eventually, instead of feeling pain when I thought of what happened to my parents, I felt…empty. There were no more feelings there for them. The hurt I had felt had washed away. John was someone I could relate to in many ways. He was someone I could share my personal feelings with; I told him what happened to my parents. He was the first person I ever told and instead of laughing or telling me to get over it, he helped me through it." I explain, hoping my answer is satisfactory.

"You told me that you didn't kill children. At first, I didn't believe you, but then you said the same thing on the plane with Damian Cray. Why did you say that? Why do you not kill children?"

"I said it because it is true. I would never hurt a child because when I was with the Russian mafia, on one of the errands I was running, I had to stick with some of the people there. I was running between two cities, and some of their soldiers were going to one of the cities. On their way, they stopped to raid a small village. The commander told the men to kill everyone there. They didn't just kill adults, though, they also killed children. I was 17 at the time. Most of the adults were simply shot, but for some reason the mafia killed the children slower. There was a boy who was about my age in the village, and I watched as they tortured him to death. It was the most horrific thing I've ever seen in my whole life. I do not believe in torture; I believe that dying it torture enough, even if it is instantaneous. I have never been able to get that sight out of my head; the pained look of the boys face as they tortured him. It sickened me, and I promised myself I would never be like that; I would never kill anyone as young as he was."

"If I hadn't given the flash drive to Damian, would you have actually hurt Sabina?"

"Well, I just told you I do not like torturing people. When I had the scissors in my hand, I kept thinking of the young boy who was killed in front of me. If you hadn't given him the flash drive, I would have dropped the scissors and let her go,"

"That would have cost you your life though,"

"I know that. I knew that when I said I wouldn't kill you on the plane as well. I have very strong beliefs about that, especially after seeing the boy die,"

"Have you ever been in love?" he blurts. I'm not sure if that just came to him now, or he was planning to ask me that before. Our eyes meet, and he gives me a sheepish smile.

"No, I've never been in love. When I was younger, girls didn't really interest me all that much. When I was older, I was never able to get close enough to anyone to have a real relationship with them," I say. I honestly don't mind answering that question.

"Okay, no offense, but I kindov figured that would be the answer," he says.

"That's all right,"

"My last question is this: do you want to adopt me?" he looks totally serious now, his brown eyes watching me intently. I can tell that despite what he said about how I don't have to answer the questions he asks if I don't want to, he really wants me to answer this one.

"Alex…that's a very difficult question to answer right now. The Pleasures are your legal guardians anyway. Don't you want to live with them?" I knew this question might come up eventually, I just didn't expect it to be so soon.

"Yes, it's just that…I feel like an outsider. I joined them only recently; they're a family. I feel cut off from them. I just don't feel like I fit in with the family very well, because of my past," he explains. I can tell that he feels safe explaining this to me. "If MI6 would allow it, would you want to adopt me?" he asks.

I think about it for a minute; he waits patiently. Finally, I respond. "If MI6 gave me the option to adopt you, and you were willing to come with me, I might consider it," I say. He nods, understanding. I wonder what he's feeling about this.

"Is that all the questions you have?" I ask. He did say that was his last question.

"Yes, it is. Thank you for answering my questions," he says. I check the time; it's about 10 o'clock. It's been about an hour since he started asking questions.

Alex yawns, covering his mouth with his fist. He's had a very long day and he needs his sleep.

"Are you ready for bed?" I ask.

"Yes. Where are we going to sleep, since there's only one bed?" he says, looking around the almost empty room.

"You can have the bed; I'll sleep on the floor," I reply without a second thought.

"Won't that be uncomfortable?" he asks, looking at me with concern in his eyes.

"I'm used to sleeping in strange places," I reply. I'm not tired anyway. I usually don't go to sleep until two o'clock." I tell him.

"Why?" he seems curious.

"The night is too valuable to waste,"

"What do you do?" he asks.

"Well, usually I read, or study whatever language I'm teaching myself. Right now I'm studying Japanese, although I'm almost done. There's another small room in this storage facility that I can use as a study without bothering you,"

"All right. Are you sure you don't want the bed?" he asks one more time.

"I'll be fine on the floor, Alex. You don't have to worry about me,"

"All right then. Goodnight, I guess,"

"Goodnight, Alex,"

"Goodnight, Yassen," he lays down on the bed, pulling the thin blanket over him.

I stay up till about two in the morning, and then I decide to go to bed. I walk out with a pillow and a small blanket I found. When I come out, I notice the blanket is not covering him at all; he looks cold. I walk over and gently pull the blanket up over him. He's sleeping on his stomach, with one hand underneath his head and the other stretched out at a ninety degree angle. A shaft of moonlight is coming in through the window, washing half of his face and his outstretched hand with pale white light. As I move the blanket up over his back, I notice a paper-thin scar slicing its way down his hand. On his pale skin, it's barely visible, but I see it because I've been trained to observe everything about my surroundings. It's so small; I wonder how anything could possible make a scar like that. I shake my head, giving up. Maybe I'll ask him about it sometime. I lay down on the cold, hard ground, and I fall asleep without a problem.

**That's the conclusion of chapter 5! Thank you so much for reviewing my story everyone! This chapter was so fun to write, and I can't wait for next chapter! It's going to be really exciting!**


	6. Old Alliances

**Here's chapter 6! I'm so excited about this series! It's my most popular story so far, and I have to admit I'm neglecting my other stories because this one is so much fun to write!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider, unfortunately.**

Chapter 6- Old Alliances

It's been several days since Alex and I arrived at the storage unit. There is no news about Scorpia; they are still searching for us. I decide its safe enough to go out as long as we stay away from London. We're running low on food; we should get more soon. We decide to go shopping.

It's early in the morning, about 9 o'clock. We head out to eat breakfast since there isn't very much left in the fridge. We're sitting inside, in the back corner of a restaurant near the back exit, not close to any windows. Just like John trained me. Alex is looking around the restaurant as he eats. I glance around too, just to make sure nothing suspicious is happening. The last thing I want is for Scorpia to find us here.

After we eat breakfast, we decide to go to a grocery store across the street and get some groceries.

On the way, I notice a man following us. I realize that I saw him in the restaurant. I glance at Alex, and our eyes meet.

"There's a man behind us. Gray shirt, tall, dark brown eyes. Muscular and well built. I think he's following us. When we round the corner, check and see," I tell him in a low voice. As we round the corner, Alex casually glances to the side and sees the man. I stop, and so does Alex. The man rounds the corner and sees us both, waiting for him. He curses angrily.

"What are you doing here, Wolf?" Alex asks suspiciously.

"What does it look like, Cub?" the man named Wolf says back.

"It looks like your following me!" Alex exclaims. "I haven't even had as much training as you!" He actually seems quite proud of himself to have spotted a tail.

"I was the one who pointed him out to you," I remind Alex.

Wolf looks at me, and suddenly his eyes widen in surprise.

"Alex…you do know who that is, don't you?" he asks.

"I Thought Mrs. Jones sent you…are you working for someone else now?" Alex asks, surprised.

"No…well…I'm…I saw you in the restaurant and I followed you…I wanted to see what you were doing and who you were with," he says, a little sheepish.

"So you're not on a mission right now?" Alex asks. "Are you still working for MI6?"

"I'm not on a mission at the moment, and yes, I do still work for MI6," he says. "Why are you with Yassen? I thought he was dead?" Wolf glances at me suspiciously.

"Yassen survived because of MI6. They took him to the hospital. Then he escaped and has been in hiding ever since. Then Scorpia came after me, or what was left of the organization at least, and Yassen saved me from them. Now I'm under his protection. And yes, Mrs. Jones does know all about this," Alex tells him.

"Scorpia…they're still around, huh? Even after you destroyed them?"

"Most of the people who were working for Scorpia are dead or in jail, but a few are still out there. They want me dead, which honestly isn't anything new," Alex tells him.

Wolf checks his watch, and then says, "I am about to head over to the Royal & General Bank. It's good to see you Alex. I hope this thing with Scorpia is resolved. Maybe Mrs. Jones will let me be on the team trying to stop them. If so, I'll be sure to kill some of them for ya," Wolf says. He extends a hand out to Alex, and Alex takes it and they shake hands.

"It's good to see you, Wolf. Stay out of trouble," Alex says, smiling.

"You too, Cub." Wolf says in reply. He lets go of Alex's hand and walks away, giving me a slight nod as he passes. As he walks past me, he stops and speaks in my ear.

"It's obvious the kid trusts you. Take good care of him, he's a good kid. Keep a close eye on him, though. He has a knack for getting into trouble," Wolf says. I nod in reply. Then Wolf walks away, disappearing into the crowd.

"What did he say?" Alex asks, looking at me curiously.

"Just told me to keep an eye on you. He says you have a talent for getting into trouble," I say. Alex smiles.

"We should get to the grocery store and buy some food before Scorpia finds us," Alex says. I agree; I don't want to be out here, I have a bad feeling about being so close to London when Scorpia is hunting for us.

We walk across the street and enter the grocery store. As we're looking around for food, the loudspeaker comes on; announcing some kind of advertisement. I notice that Alex jumps when he hears the noise. He glances over at me and gives a sheepish smile; he's embarrassed. I know what he's feeling, though. He's just as nervous as I am.

We leave the store, and I'm just about to climb in the car when Alex stiffens. He's standing beside me, about to go to the other side and get in. I feel an icy claw go down my back; something's wrong. I look at him. He silently gets in the car, and I reach for the ignition. Suddenly, he yells, "Stop!" I freeze, unsure why.

"I…I think there's a bomb wired to the ignition," Alex says.

We both get out of the car quickly, and I check underneath. Yes, he's right. There is a bomb wired to the ignition. I realize that it's wired in such a way that I can't disarm it without a risk of blowing us up.

"All right, you're smart. There's no way to unwire it, so I guess we're gonna have to borrow a car," I tell him.

"Not something I want to do…but I don't think we have another choice, do we?" he says. I shake my head no.

We find an old beat up white Cadillac that I don't think anyone will miss that much. The ride home is uneventful; nothing else happens. Finally, Alex speaks.

"How did they find us?" he asks.

"I was careless. I should have known they would know which care I was driving; I should have ditched that car long ago," I explain. I'm losing my touch I guess; I haven't done anything like this in such a long time…

"Does that mean that every time we want to go out, we're going to have to steal a car?" Alex says.

"I don't know. It depends on whether they know what car we're driving right now or not,"

We finally arrive at the storage facility, and I make sure nothing has changed before we both go back inside. We sit down and eat a small lunch; neither of us is very hungry after what just happened. It's only about 2 o'clock; we have a lot of time to do whatever we want. I don't want to leave the storage facility again, especially after what just happened. There isn't even any cable here. I have a computer, but I don't know what we're going to do with that. As Alex eats, I again notice the paper thin line drawn across the back of his hand.

"What is that?" I ask, motioning to it.

He glances at it, and gives a small shudder. "It was from one of my missions. After you disappeared…" he says. "It's from a poisonous spider web," I look at him, not really able to believe that. He tells me about Desmond McCain, KilmoreCastle, and the Poison Dome. After hearing the story, I realize how much trauma Alex has really been through since I disappeared.

"Your car…the way the bomb was wired…it was the same as the car that Jack was in when she…" Alex hesitantly tells me, trailing off a few times.

"You knew there was something wrong. We both did, but you were the one to figure out what it was," I say gently. I'm not sure if there is really a way to comfort him in this situation.

"Yeah. I guess. Hey, maybe I'm smarter than you," he jokes, glancing at me with a twinkle in his eyes. He's trying to lighten the situation.

"Don't push it," I tell him. He laughs, and we smile at each other.

"We should tell Mrs. Jones what happened. We should call her right now," Alex says suddenly.

"That's a good idea. That might help us. Should we tell her we saw Wolf?" I ask. I know it's up to him because he's the one who knows Wolf best.

"Yeah, we might as well. I don't think it will hurt anything if we do," he replies.

I pull out my cell phone, and we dial the number. It's on speakerphone again. We wait while the phone rings, and a few seconds later someone picks up.

"Hello?" Mrs. Jones says.

"Hello Mrs. Jones," Alex says, just like last time.

"Alex! Is Yassen with you? What's happened? Are you all right?" she sounds really worried. She doesn't just sound worried about Alex, though, she also sounds worried about me.

"Yassen is with me. We're both all right, but…" Alex trails off, looking at me. I realize he wants me to tell her what happened.

"Well, we went out to get some food, and when we came back to the car, we both sensed something was wrong. Alex was the one who figured out what is was, though. I was about to turn on the ignition when he realized, somehow, that there was a bomb wired to activate when the car was turned on. I checked, and he was right. There was a bomb wired to the ignition. I didn't disarm it because it would have been too dangerous," I explain. She listens carefully, not making a sound until I'm done.

"Scorpia found you…but how?" she asks, shocked.

"We don't know. They were probably watching for my car," I say.

"Well, at least you're both all right. That's all that matters now," she says, relieved to knew we aren't hurt.

"We have made progress, though," she continues. "We believe they are living in a small house just outside London. We think they have weapons in the house, so trying to go in and grab them would be suicide. We need someone to lure them out into the open. I have a plan, but neither of you are going to like it,"

"No. I'm not doing another mission. This time, there's nothing you can say to convince me," Alex says instantly.

"How about this: if you don't act as a decoy, then we'll never be able to get them. They'll find you eventually, and you will have to be on the run for the rest of your life," she points out. I admit I agree with her.

"Won't we be on a suicide mission by going out there?" Alex asks.

"Well, Smithers has made you special jackets that are bulletproof. You won't get hurt," she explains.

"It won't work. They'll figure out the jackets are bulletproof the moment we stand up. They'll aim at our heads. Like Yassen did in Malta," Alex says.

"We should fake our deaths," I say, realizing Alex is right. I wonder how he knew about Malta. Probably from Ash.

"Good thinking, Alex. All right. The problem is that we don't know where you'll get shot. We'll have to make the blood bags all over your body. Smithers will make that," Mrs. Jones says.

"When are we going to do this?" Alex asks.

"We'll do it as soon as possible. In the next few days," she tells us.

"Call us when you're ready for us," I say.

"We will," she says, hanging up.

I have to admit, I'm a little excited. I haven't been on a mission in a long time.

"This is just like Albeit Bride," Alex comments. This takes all the excitement out of me. I remember when they told me John had been killed by MI6. Now I know it was a lie, but still. Alex is right, this is like Albeit Bridge.

"It's different," I tell him.

"Not really. Scorpia is involved. It might not be an exchange, but we will fake our deaths. And there's certainly a chance we're wrong,"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, this whole time, we've been assuming Scorpia wants me dead. What if they want to kidnap me?"

"They tried to blow up our car. I don't think they care about answers anymore. I think they just want you, maybe both of us, dead,"

"Yeah…I guess that's true. I just hope you're right," he says, accepting it. I hope I'm right, too.

**That's the conclusion of chapter 6! Hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter should have plenty of action in it, so don't get bored.**


	7. End Games

**Chapter 7 has arrived! There will be more chapters after this, so don't be disappointed about the title.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider, blah, blah, blah. I hate the people who make us have the disclaimer every time we post a new chapter, mostly because I keep forgetting to put it up here.**

Chapter 7-End Games

A few days later, Mrs. Jones calls to tell us she's ready. She sends an armored vehicle to the storage facility, and they take us to MI6 headquarters.

When we arrive, Smithers is waiting. He greets Alex warmly.

"Very good to see you, old chap! I hope you've been doing well," he exclaims.

"Am I going to get a weapon?" he asks. I remember the first time we met, when I told him that killing was for grown-ups and he was still a child. That seems like such a long time ago. So much has happened since then.

"Well, I've modified your plan, Alex. Yassen and you will act as if you are trying to capture the men, but of course you will fail. After you 'die' our men will come out and surround the men. Hopefully from there things will go smoothly.

"Now, about the bulletproof jackets. There are little pockets of fake blood that are inside. When they are punctured it will appear that you are bleeding. Be careful not to puncture them by accident on the way there. they are all over your body, so be very careful when you put them on,"

We put the suits on; they fit perfectly. Then we head out.

"When we reach the compound, Alex and I are handed tranquilizer guns.

"Don't just shoot randomly; aim for them. We'll be lucky if you hit them," Mrs. Jones tells us. "Good luck," she adds. We nod and leave the truck.

At first there isn't any movement, except for us, of course. Then, the door to the house bursts open and men come outside. There are five of them, all heavily armed.

"Don't move," the first man says, aiming his gun at Alex.

"That's gonna happen," Alex says sarcastically. I suppress a smile. Just like his father. He lifts the tranquilizer gun and points it at the man, aiming for his arm. Surprisingly, it hits him, and the man crumples to the ground.

I start firing my weapon as well, but now the men have snapped into action. I feel a bullet graze my side, and I feel the fake blood start to seep out and cover my side. I groan and press my hand against my side for a moment, and then pull it away. The blood covers my hand. Perfect. I fire the gun and another man goes down. I see Alex get hit in the chest, and he falls to the ground, motionless. For a second I panic, wondering if he's really dead. Then I feel a bullet hit me in the stomach, and I go down too. The air around us is silent,. I breathe with slow, shallow breaths. The men come up to me and Alex to confirm the fact that we're dead. Once they do, they look satisfied. They start to head back inside the house, but Mrs. Jones' team comes out and attacks. The battle doesn't last long because the men are greatly outnumbered by now.

After the men have all been captured and put into a truck, I stand up. Fake blood covers my stomach; I can feel it seeping through my clothes. Alex gets up too; he is in similar condition. We walk back to the truck, and we drive away.

**I know it's very short, but there's a reason I'm ending it here. You'll know why when I post the last (yes I just did say last) chapter.**


	8. Father and Son

**The last chapter is here! Are you excited? Scared? Maybe even a little sad? Don't waste time reading this then, read the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it, really want to.**

Chapter 8- Father and Son

"Good job, you two," Mrs. Jones says when we arrive back at her office. "The men are in interrogation right now. From what we have gathered so far, they were in fact working alone; it was just the five of them. At first they were planning to kidnap you, Alex, but once you proved too difficult to kidnap, they decided it would be better to just kill you. They admitted to putting the bomb on your car, Yassen. They will be put in jail for life; none of the Scorpia men are ever going to bother you again, Alex." she explains to us, sounding very pleased.

"What about me? Did they know who I was?" I ask. I don't really care, I just want to know.

"They didn't recognize you at all, Yassen. We're going to keep it that way. To them, you were just some random guy helping Alex," she says. I smile, glad to hear this.

Alex glances outside; it's dark. I check the time; it's about 9 o'clock.

"What will we do now?" Alex asks.

"Well, you'll be able to go back and live with the Pleasures. I don't know what Yassen will do, but I'm sure he'll figure out something," she says.

"Mrs. Jones?" Alex says hesitantly.

"Yes, Alex?" she says kindly.

"I…I don't want to go back and live with the Pleasures. I want to say here, in England," Alex says.

"Alex! Why would you ever say such a thing?" Mrs. Jones exclaims, shocked.

"It's not them, it's just…I feel like I don't fit in. Sabina and I had a really big fight, and now…it was a while ago, but our relationship has changed. Our lives are just so different; I don't feel like I fit in with their family that well anymore," Alex explains.

"Well, I don't know what to do with you. I don't think you have a choice, anymore. They are the only ones who could take care of you," she says.

"I could do it," I hear myself say before I know what I'm doing.

"What?" both Alex and Mrs. Jones say at the same time.

"I…I could adopt him," I say, clarifying. Am I seriously considering this? I never wanted a kid! I don't want this! But I do, I realize. I want Alex to be my son. John was like a father to me, and now that John's gone and Alex is alone…that seems like the best way to repay the debt I owe him. Take care of Alex.

"Alex? What do you think?" Mrs. Jones asks.

Alex turns to me, his brown eyes searching my face for an answer. He stares at me, thinking.

"Alex, you asked me if I wanted to adopt you a few days ago. You also asked me if I would, if MI6 allowed it. I honestly didn't have an answer to either of those questions then, but now I do. I want to adopt you. I want you to be my son, just like I was a son to John," I say quietly.

"I…I think I would like that," Alex says after hesitating for a long moment.

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Jones says.

"Yes. I'm positive. I want to be with Yassen," Alex says confidently.

"All right. It's settled then. The forms will be passed over to Yassen," she says.

A few days later…

We're in the airport, saying goodbye to Sabina and her family. It's about 6 o'clock here. They flew out a few nights ago to transfer the adoption forms to me and to say goodbye to Alex.

"Goodbye, Sabina," Alex says.

"Goodbye, Alex. It's good that you found someone who can be like a father to you," she says, looking just a little sad.

"Thanks," Alex says, glancing at me. Sabina looks at me also, and I'm surprised when she speaks to me.

"Yassen, thank you for taking care of Alex. And…uh, thank you for saving our lives on the plane," she seems embarrassed to be thanking me; I'm pretty sure she still remembers when I almost cut her finger off.

"I would never have hurt you, Sabina. If Alex hadn't given Cray the flashdrive, I would have dropped the scissors and told both of you to run. I would have died for you, even though I barely know you," I tell her. She seems a bit surprised to hear this, but she recovers quickly and nods her head.

Her parents also say goodbye to Alex, and then they leave, boarding a plane back to America.

A few hours later, we are back in my first safe house. MI6 helped repair it; there were only a few minor things, a broken window and a cracked door. There are two beds, and everything we need to survive, plus more.

I walk into Alex's room to say goodnight to him. I don't know if a real father would do this, but I'm doing what feels natural to me.

"Goodnight, Alex," I say, opening the door slightly.

"Goodnight, Yassen. Are you going to stay up for a while?" Alex says in response.

"Maybe for a little while," I tell him. He smiles, and I smile back.

I start to close his door, when he calls out to me.

"Hey, Yassen?"

"Yes, Alex?"

"I…I…um…I…thank you for being like a father to me. Thank you for caring about me so much," he says. I sense that that's not all he wants to say, though. I nod, and wait to see if he says anymore. He just stares at me. I reach for the light and turn it out.

"I love you, Yassen," he blurts. "Like a father, I mean…" he hurries to say, trying to make it not sound weird. This makes me freeze in surprise. He loves me…

"I love you too, Alex," I whisper, barely loud enough for him to hear me. He nods, turns over, and closes his eyes. I close the door quietly behind me as I leave his room.

I stay up studying Japanese until about midnight. Then I decide to go to bed. I lay down, but I can't fall asleep. I've never gone to bed this early. I find my mind starting to wander. A memory comes to mind.

_It was right after the mission where he saved my life. We were staying in a house together; we'd be leaving for Malagosto in the morning. Neither of us could sleep for some reason, so we just sat there in the darkness, waiting for morning. Finally, I spoke._

_"Why did you do it?" I asked._

_"Because I could," John says. That made me laugh._

_"Seriously, though, why did you save my life?" I asked, the smile dropping off my face._

_"I care about you, Yassen," he said quietly, breaking one of his rules. He spoke my name…he never spoke my name, not even at Malagosto. He did then, though._

_"You could have compromised the mission though? Would you still have done it, even if it meant failing the mission?" I asked._

_"Yes, I would have. Yassen, you're like a son to me. You are my son, and I would do anything to protect you," John said compassionately. "I love you, Yassen. You have no idea how much I love you. I would never let anything happen to you,"_

_"Hunter…John…I love you too. You're…you're like a father to me. I never wanted to tell you before. I thought you would think it was weird," I said, feeling an emotion I hadn't felt in years. I felt a rush of love for him._

_"You don't have to feel like that. You can tell me anything you want. I don't mind," he says. And suddenly I stood and walked over to him. He held me in his arms, hugging me. I felt tears of joy streaming down my face, and I could hear him murmuring in my ear, "I love you, Yassen. I love you,"_

I remember that moment, the moment where John had told me he loved me like a father and I had told him I loved him like he was my father. I feel that unfamiliar feeling now; that feeling of loving someone like family, and the feeling that they love me in the same way. I lean back onto my pillow, smile and close my eyes. Tomorrow, my son and I will start a new life.

**All right, just writing that scene brought tears to my eyes, so…maybe it's just me, but I think it's very emotional. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm thinking about writing a sequel…like five years into the future, when Alex is 20 or something. R&R to let me know how you like this story, and let me know if you want me to write a sequel! Please give me ideas for a sequel if you want one, because I want to write one, but I don't know what it will be on. Oh, BTW, I was going to make you wait until Monday to find out what happened in chapter 8, but I was too excited. You're welcome!**


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